more Oakland school closings

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

In the Oakland Tribune...

http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_5329851
Statham agrees to close four schools
Hearing drew emotional pleas to save East Oakland Community High, 3 others
By Katy Murphy, STAFF WRITER
Inside Bay Area
03/01/2007
OAKLAND ­ East Oakland Community High and three 
other local schools will close in June. Late 
Wednesday night, Kimberly Statham, the Oakland 
school district's state-appointed administrator, 
decided to accept the recommendations from her 
staff despite hours of emotional pleas from students, parents and teachers.

Earlier that evening dozens of speakers 
approached the podium to sway Statham in the 
other direction. After district staff made its 
case to shut the four schools, dozens of speakers 
approached the podium to sway state Statham in the other direction.

"If this school closes, I will lose what little 
faith I have in the district's alleged commitment 
to educating children," said one mother, whose 
son attends the 21/2-year-old East Oakland Community High School.

Even Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums weighed in on East 
Oakland Community's behalf, through a letter read by a staff representative.

"I believe it is important to give institutions 
an opportunity to develop," the letter said.

Since Statham approved the recommendations, 
Sherman Elementary, East Oakland Community, 
Kizmet Academy and Merritt Middle College High School will close in June.

The decision follows a series of meetings that 
staff held with parents and students at 14 
schools ­ most of which struggled with low 
enrollment, low test scores or both. Merritt 
Middle College was an exception; it will lose its 
space on the community college campus because of construction.

After hearing the recommendation for closure at a 
community meeting last week, supporters of East 
Oakland Community organized an 8-mile march from 
the school in the south Oakland hills to the district office.

Banging drums and chanting, dozens of young 
people bore signs reading "Invest in Our Urban 
Youth" and "Keep EOC Open." So many high school 
students came to the meeting that many had to 
wait in the hallway. The packed boardroom became 
increasingly warm and stifling as the night wore on.

The school, which opened in 2004, was put on the 
district's watch list because of a severe test 
score drop, transcript irregularities, low 
enrollment and problems with the neighbors, who 
blamed the students for a spike in burglaries and graffiti.

Still, district staff noted the strong 
relationships that the EOC teenagers have with 
their teachers and each another ­ not a small 
thing, considering Oakland's staggering dropout 
rate, which some estimate to be as high as 50 percent.

At the meeting Wednesday, the school's founder, 
K. Wayne Yang, apologized to the students for the 
"disgusting" level of instruction that they 
endured last school year. But, he argued, the 
teachers and students have turned it around. With 
the support of the district, he said, the reforms will only continue.

"If you stop now, you have everything to lose," 
Yang argued. "If you continue, you have everything to gain."

Some criticized the district's intensive 
"community engagement" process leading up to the 
decisions, saying they believed it wasn't truly genuine.

"The imminent school closure is extremely 
insulting, both professionally and personally, to 
all of us at Sherman (Elementary)," said Rachelle 
Love, a kindergarten teacher.

Others, including some members of the district's 
school board ­ which lost its voting powers after 
the state took over the system in mid-2003 ­ 
noted that the district should bear 
responsibility for some of the schools' shortcomings.

"Why do we allow our schools to get to a certain 
level and then we take corrective action?" said 
Noel Gallo, a school board member, referring to 
East Oakland Community. "If I was a parent at 
this school, I would be extremely upset."